Last update - 00:00 16/11/2007
Ex-justices lash out at reforms proposed by Justice Minister
By Yuval Yoaz, Haaretz Correspondent
Retired Supreme Court justice Mishael Cheshin on Saturday joined his former colleague Aharon Barak in attacking Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann for his proposed plans to reform the judiciary through legislature.
"Daniel Friedmann is acting like an African elephant going wild in a china shop," said Cheshin in a legal conference in Caesarea.
"This is not a discussion - this is a war on democracy," Cheshin declared. "Has the High Court of Justice been so terrible until today? Has democracy really suffered from the Supreme Court, to the extent that it needs to be bombed and weakened with heavy artillery?"
Cheshin, once deputy to former Supreme Court president Barak, said he is exhausted from the struggle against Friedmann's reforms. "It's already been eight months that I'm living in this constant nightmare day and night. Friedmann's reforms come one after another like a machine gun - 1,100 bullets a minute. I'm on constant alert; I go to sleep each night with a sword beneath the mattress."
Cheshin continued: "Friedmann is an authoritative man who galloped into a china shop. I don't understand this hatred and slander of the Supreme Court."
The former justice went on to say that a "difficult year passed over us and no small amount of bad blood was spilled, and I also played a role. My statement that I would slice off Friedmann's hand was obviously metaphorical, and it would have been better if it was left unsaid. But apparently I was right."
Cheshin discussed legislation pushed by Friedmann, including changes to the panel selecting justices.
"Changing the makeup of the committee in charge of selecting justices will completely crush it and drive out the Supreme Court justices, " he said. "It's hard to believe how brutal it is."
On Friday, Barak criticized Friedmann's proposal to legislate restrictions to High Court powers, saying "legislation should not interfere with areas of judgment. This is forbidden."
At a legal conference in Caesarea, Barak said "some issues are beyond the jurisdiction of the judiciary, but these should be discussed and determined sensitively. Areas of judgment should not be tackled by means of legislation. It has not been done anywhere else in the world."
Haaretz reported Friday that Friedmann instructed officials in his bureau and the Justice Ministry to consider drafting a law that would identify areas not open to decisions by the court, even though petitions may be filed on them.
The bill would limit the High Court's ability to rule on matters of government policy concerning diplomacy, security and even the budget.
Regarding those plans, the former Supreme Court president also said, "The way to do this is by instigating public debate, and promoting the reforms in the spirit of our legal culture. It is possible that the High Court has gone too far in extending its jurisdiction, although I beg to differ. But this needs to be debated rather than imposed from above by the legislature. This is wrong."
Earlier on Friday, Barak met with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and outlined his objections to Friedmann's initiatives. "This is not a fashionable whim, or a personal crusade," Barak said. "It is a battle for our country's soul."
Barak said that he offered to Friedmann and Chief Justice Dorit Beinisch, in part of his and former Supreme Court president Meir Shamgar's efforts to mediate in their dispute, to set up a public committee that would draft a bill to ensure the autonomy of the judiciary. "The recent developments demonstrate that former arrangements, as well as personal relationships, are unreliable," he said.
Friedmann's proposal to disqualify the High Court of Justice from hearing cases on both budgetary and security matters ignited a fury of protest earlier Friday from the Labor Party, whose faction chairman warned that Kadima's key coalition partner would veto any proposal deemed as encroaching on the court's authority.
"In the government guidelines, the government pledged not to harm the Supreme Court and to preserve its function and standing," Labor Party faction chair MK Eitan Cabel said. "The Labor Party will exercise the veto power it possesses, in accordance with coalition agreements [signed] with Kadima, in order to enact this principle."
"Continued legislation on this matter will undoubtedly lead to a coalition crisis," Cabel added.
"Justice Minister Friedmann's initiative which would prevent the High Court from ruling on budgetary and defense issues is an astounding initiative that will seriously damage [Israeli] democracy and will grant those in power with total control over the citizens of Israel," Labor MK Shelly Yachimovich said Friday. "It is becoming clear that Friedmann is determined to destroy the Supreme Court, and whoever holds the state dear to their heart must line up to oppose him," Yachimovich added.
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel issued its response, condemning the justice minister's proposal.
"The association petitioned the High Court over the security fence, the use of torture, the neighbor policy, discrimination in distribution of budget resources, and on other matters, and a great fear has taken hold that Friedmann's handiwork will leave a scorched earth and will abandon whole swaths of the population to the mercy of the military echelon or the tyrannical majority," ACRI director-general Rachel Benziman said.
Although the drafting process for Friedmann's bill is at an early stage, discussions have already been held by the relevant departments, and the minister's bureau acknowledged that efforts to draft such a law are underway.
"Preliminary discussions have been held on the subject," said a bureau statement.
Friedmann had declared his intention to consider limiting the areas on which the court can rule as well as the right to stand before the High Court. The idea of limiting these areas has been discussed at the Justice Ministry.
Friedmann maintains that during the past two decades the High Court's rulings have eliminated the notion that there are areas it cannot rule on.
"Is it reasonable for the Supreme Court to rule on a petition in 1981 on whether it was legal or illegal to bomb the nuclear reactor in Iraq?" Friedmann asked last night at a conference in Caesaria.
"The court does not recognize the fact that there are subjects that are not within its jurisdiction. There has been an uncontrolled expansion of the court's authority in various subjects," the justice minister added.
During the swearing-in ceremony for judges at the president's residence in Jerusalem, Friedmann said the High Court's broad authority is one of the reasons for the delay in dealing with cases.
"At the High Court a justice has the right to decide whether to deliberate a case or not," Friedmann said. "There was a time when the areas of judgment were limited, and there were cases that received attention for several minutes before the case was closed, and as a result the lawyers knew that such cases should not be brought before the court. Now they do not know, and perhaps therefore it is possible to bring any subject to the High Court."
Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch is strongly opposed to Friedmann's bid to limit the areas on which the court can rule, and she is supported by former court president Barak.
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